I'll Protect you
by evilbunnygirl93
Summary: While on the hunt for a royal arms, Gladio and Prompto are split up from Ignis and Noctis. Gladio is injured and Prompto is determined to save his friends life even if it means sacrificing his own well-being.


Prompto hummed while riding his chocobo between Noctis and Gladio. They were on their way to a possible royal tomb. When they were staying in town a couple days before, they came across a rumor about a weapon hidden in the mountains nearby. Ignis had warned against going, but when someone also mentioned a statue that looked like a king was holding the weapon they were all determined to find it. It's taken a whole day and night to get up the mountain by chocobo and now they were coming up to the forked edge of the mountain trail. The trial turned to the right to keep going up the current mountain or they could go straight.

"Whoa." Prompto gasped. There were a hundred or so natural made bridges that connected the part of the mountain that they were on to the twin mountain right beside it. The bridges were all made of stone; they were scattered in different heights and areas; and they were all different sizes.

"Ah yes, the Skeleton Crossing. The townspeople said that it's easy to get lost once on the other side and we must take caution on our return trip as to not take a wrong bridge back." Ignis stated.

"What happens if we do?" Prompto asked.

"We get lost." Gladio responded with a smirk.

"Not only will we get lost, but we may not be able to climb back down this mountain." Ignis said. "According to the tipster, there are paths back to this side that will leave you trapped if you are not careful."

"So, we should cross the same bridge on the way back." Noctis said.

"If all possible, yes."

"Well, let's get moving then." Gladio nudged his chocobo to go forward, but the bird only took a few steps before stopping in front of the bridge. The chocobo chirped before stepping back and ruffling its feathers.

"It seems the chocobos do not wish to cross." Ignis said stepping off his bird.

"Well if that isn't a sign…" Gladio mumbled getting off as well. Noctis and Prompto soon followed patting the chocobo's heads before sending them back.

"Man I'm not looking forward to the climb down." Prompto whined.

"Same." Noctis sighed.

"The chocobos wouldn't be safe here alone and who knows how long this will take us." Ignis said. "It's for their own safety."

"We know." Noctis said. "Let's get moving then."

As they crossed the bridge, Prompto took several pictures of the stone bridges above and below. Prompto stopped as he stared down at the bottom, or at least what he could see. It looked foggy at the bottom but it was too dark to really tell. Gladio patted his back, bringing his attention back to walking. They made it to the other side and Ignis marked the bridge in order to find it when they come back.

They followed the path finding that it climbed up steeply which slowed their movements and increased the complaints from Prompto and Noctis. Gladio told them to shut it and to suck it up while Ignis remained quiet taking the climb in stride or at least his composure made it seem that way. After about thirty minutes, the made it to a flatter area where several other paths converged onto it. Noctis took the lead with Gladio close to his side and Ignis walked behind with Prompto in the back who was taking pictures of the stony landscape. Gladio looked back at Prompto and smirked at his excitement. The gunslinger could always find the beauty in things that would otherwise be considered ugly or scary. Prompto hummed as he took some shots of a curved rock then aimed his camera at his friends. Prompto took several pictures of them all and would make a remark to get them to react so he could get a picture of them smiling or laughing.

The sun was soon making its way down and the party found themselves walking towards a smooth pathway. The rocks were no longer sharp, but smooth and rounded. As they walked further in, Ignis came to a stop.

"May I suggest we make camp for the night and pick this up in the morning? The trail could turn dangerous in the darkness."

"I agree. Walking blind in an area we're not familiar with is one way to get hurt." Gladio said.

"Then it's settle. We'll make camp here." Ignis stated.

"Wait." Noctis said. "We might be getting close. We should go a little longer and see if we can make it to the weapon."

"No. We're resting." Gladio snapped. "You'll only put yourself and us in danger by walking around in the dark. And who knows what daemons are on this mountain."

"So being sitting ducks is safer? There's not a Haven here, Gladio."

"Come on guys, no need to fight." Prompto said getting between the prince and shield. "Noct, I think we'll be safe here for the night. As long as we don't draw attention to ourselves we should be okay, right Iggy?"

"That is my assumption as well. We'll be fine and we'll each keep watch tonight to be safe."

The prince knew he was beat and sighed. "Fine."

They didn't bring any camping supplies to avoid carrying the extra weight, but they did have some cup noodles for dinner. Noctis laid down to sleep as did Ignis since Gladio volunteered to take the first watch. Prompto laid down next to his friends, but he could tell that Gladio was still annoyed at the prince.

"Gladio," Prompto started. "You know Noct only wants us to get off this mountain as soon as possible right?"

"Yes, but sometimes the fastest way of doing things isn't the safest. If we kept going stumbling through the darkness and a daemon attacked us we would be at a disadvantage. One of us could get hurt or killed. The prince wasn't thinking about his own safety nor ours."

"He was just in a different way is all. If you two would talk instead of argue, maybe you could see each other's point of view." Prompto mumbled.

"In the heat of battle, there is no time for talk." Gladio snapped.

"Then there's even less time for arguing. I swear you two are so stubborn. And it's not like we were fighting an enemy earlier anyways." Prompto sighed, then whispered as he turned over. "Just each other."

Gladio picked up on the comment, but kept quiet. He returned his focus on his task at hand, but there was a little voice in the back of his head telling his to apologize to both Noctis and Prompto in the morning.

Ignis took the watch after Gladio, and then Prompto took the last watch, letting Noctis sleep longer hoping his mood would improve with the extra sleep. At sunrise the party was awoken by Prompto who got a stern lecture by Ignis about not getting enough sleep and letting Noctis skip his watch duties. Gladio made amends with prince during the lecture and they both apologized for snapping at each other the night before. Soon enough they were back on the hunt for the royal weapon. Gladio and Ignis had made a wise decision the night before about stopping to rest. It wasn't too long before they had come up to an outcropping that would have been impossible to spot at night even with flashlights.

Noctis shivered at the thought of falling off into the sea of sharp rocks below. Prompto looked over and took a quick picture of the formation before Ignis urged them onwards. Gladio took note of something soon after and started looking around them. For a minute Ignis thought his companion had been alerted to something, but Ignis didn't seem to be seeing the same thing as Gladio was. That's when it dawned on him as well and stopped walking.

"You noticed it too." Gladio said, catching Noctis and Prompto's attention.

"Indeed."

"What is it?" Prompto asked.

"Look around, what do you see?" Gladio asked. The two younger men took a moment to scan the area.

"A bunch of rocks." Noctis said.

"And?"

"Nothing? Just a bunch of rocks." Prompto said. "Am I missing something?"

"Nothing is right." Ignis said. "Even though this is a mountain, there should still be life up here. We didn't even spot a daemon last night nor heard one. No animals, no monster, nothing. The tipster said to on the lookout for monsters that hide in the trees.

"But... there are no trees." Prompto said.

"Not even dead ones." Noctis said. "Something isn't right. How long has it been since anybody has been up here."

"According the tipster, it's only been a year since the last reported person climbed the path on this side."

"The other mountain was covered in trees and animals. Hell even a couple of monsters were there, but this side…" Gladio said. "Is as bare as a desert. Looks like the tipster needs some updated info."

Prompto decided to climb a couple of rocks to look ahead while the other three discussed the lack of life around them. He made it to the top of the small mound and spotted a statue not too far ahead of them, just beyond another bridge. He smiled and turned to his friends.

"Hey, guys, I see a statue up ahead."

They all turned their attention to him, but was soon replaced by the large snake rising behind him. Noctis reached out and yelled. "Prompto watch out!"

Prompto looked back in time to see the snake's head coming down at him. He jumped off the rocks, but the snake still managed to hit him and throw him into the air. Prompto cried out from the impact and was falling fast towards the ground, but Gladio managed to catch him, taking the blunt of the impact. They both grunted as they sat up. Prompto hissed gripping his bloody arm as Gladio stood up, not injured at all.

"Are you okay?" Gladio asked offering a hand. Prompto nodded taking the help to get up to his feet.

"A little assistance here!" Noctis called as he blocked another attack from the snake and Ignis threw his daggers at his head.

"We're coming!" Gladio shouted and took off without missing a beat. Prompto called for his gun and started shooting from where he was at, giving cover to his friends. Gladio swung his large sword into the snake's body as Noctis warped up to stab it in its head. The snake shook his head back forth before curling up in a circle to try knock Noctis off while swiping its tail at the other three. Ignis threw his daggers once more.

"Gladio hit him like before! Prompto, can you shoot the snake's head?"

"Of course!" Prompto said taking aim, being careful not to hit his best friend. He fired as Gladio hit his mark and Ignis threw a fire ball right under the snake's head. The simultaneous attack stopped the snake long enough for Noctis to warp away with ease. Prompto took this moment to shoot it in the head with some rapid fire. The snake hissed out and whipped its tail around aiming right at the gunman.

"Watch out!" Gladio yelled tackling Prompto the ground in time to dodge the attack, but Gladio was grazed by the tail. He went rolling across the ground with a grunt, but was quick to get up.

"Gladio!" Noctis screamed. He warped back to the snake summoning his current royal weapons and unleashed his armiger attack. The snake let out a loud shriek before falling backwards and landing hard enough to shake the ground. Noctis landed and dropped to one knee to catch his breath waiting for the snake to rise back up, but it didn't.

The group gathered together, their adrenaline finally slowing down. Gladio gently grabbed Prompto's left arm, which was covered in blood at this point.

"How bad is it?" Ignis asked moving to inspect the injury.

"It's nothing." Prompto snapped pulling his away. "It's just a scratch."

"Hey, calm down, we just wanted to make sure you're okay." Gladio snapped back.

"Well I'm fine."

"Prompto, come on, let Iggy take a look at you." Noctis said calmly.

"I'm okay, let's just get this weapon and get out of here."

"What's going on with you?" Gladio asked with a glare. "You were all puppy dogs and smiles this morning."

"I…" Prompto was fighting with himself to say it, but shut his mouth and looked away with a faint blush.

"Well go on, out with it."

"I don't always need you to protect me, Gladio. You're the King's Shield, not mine. I can take care of myself in a fight."

"We know that." Noctis said. "But we still have to look out for each other."

"I get that, but these past few missions Gladio keeps pushing me out of the way or making sure to be near me when we're in battle so he can block attacks." He turned to Gladio. "I appreciate it, but at the same time you make me feel like I'm the weakest. That I have to be protected. I can protect myself. If I couldn't I would have never came in the first place."

"Prompto, I never meant for you to feel that way." Gladio said softly.

"Well I do, so you could please stop treating me like a damsel in distress and more like a comrade?" Prompto asked, with a slightly defeated tone.

"Yes, o-of course." Gladio said not looking his friend in the eye. Ignis and Noctis shared a look with each other before the advisor finally moved to look at Prompto's arm.

Ignis looked it over and gave him a simple potion which was enough to close the wound, but not fully heal it, so he opted to wrapping it up instead of using another potion at least until they were off the mountain. Prompto didn't argue. They quickly moved after that to get to the statue. It was on a plateau that was no bigger than the Hammerhead garage. When they got to the bridge, they noticed it wasn't a stone one like the others. It was a manmade metal bridge that was rusted over and creaking. The hand rails were missing in some spots and broken in others.

"Let's use cautious while crossing." Ignis stated.

"I'll go first." Gladio said and started walking across before the others could protest. Noctis went next once Gladio made it to the other side, then Ignis and finally Prompto made his way across. Noctis ran up to the statue ready to take the next royal arms, but clenched his fist as he stared at the statue. Although it was standing upright, it had been worn down by the weather and time. There was no weapon, but he could make out the faint shape of a stone sword that the statue was holding.

"Don't tell me this was all a goose chase." Gladio said.

"I'm afraid so." Noctis said. "There's nothing here."

"Was there ever anything here? Maybe at one point and someone stole it?" Prompto asked voice full of hope.

"No." Noctis was sure of it.

"Figures." Gladio scuffed the ground with his shoe.

"Well, let's not waste more time here then." Ignis said. Noctis nodded before giving a slight kick to the statue which was enough to knock it over and crumble.

"Oh, whoops." Noctis laughed a little. "Didn't mean to do that."

A shadow covered the plateau and they all looked up in time to see the snake from before striking its head down for an attack.

"Move it!" Gladio yelled pushing Prompto forward and pulling Ignis as Noctis warped to them. The snake buried his head where the prince was at as it curled the rest of its body off the mountain edge and on to the plateau. The ground shook beneath them as the plateau began to break apart.

"To the other side! Quickly!" Ignis yelled. Noctis warped to the bridge and was crossing it with Ignis close behind. Prompto ran on the bridge as Gladio followed behind him. The bridge made a loud shrill sound as it wobbled from the collapsing plateau. The snake hissed out as it began to fall along with the rocks, but it swung its tail up for one last attack. Gladio saw the tail coming and jumped into Prompto, pushing them forward to dodge the tail as it slammed into the bridge.

Noctis and Ignis made it to solid ground as the bridge began tear from the rocks. Prompto and Gladio stood up to run again, but the metal plating under Gladio broke through. Prompto was quick to grab his friend's arm, but the momentum pulled him forward and down as well. Prompto reached out and grabbed onto the torn hand railing with a scream. Gladio held on tightly as Prompto cried out in pain as he hung on.

"Prompto! Gladio!" Noctis yelled out as he rushed forward, but Ignis held him back. The bridge had bent downwards so they were able see Prompto a little bit, but Gladio was out of their line of sight.

Gladio grunted as he glanced down at the dark fog below. He felt something warm hit his cheek and saw a speck of red roll across his nose. He looked up at Prompto. The gunman's eyes were squeezed shut and his mouth was clenched as he focused on both hanging on to his friend and the railing. That's when Gladio saw the blood. His right arm was covered in it and it was coming from his hand. He gasped seeing a sharp piece of metal piercing through Prompto's hand as he hung on to the railing.

"Prompto!" Gladio gasped. Prompto didn't respond, but he didn't have much time to. The bridge jerked hard as one side popped from the solid ground. The jerk was enough for Prompto to lose his grip on the railing and the next they knew, they falling through the air. They faintly heard the prince yell out their names over the wind.

Gladio acted quickly. He pulled Prompto against his chest and held him tightly with one arm. "Hang on to me! Don't let go!"

Prompto nodded showing that he heard and wrapped both his arms and legs around Gladio's body. Gladio called for his sword and watched as the fog was coming closer. He leaned forward using his sword to help steer him towards the side of the mountain. He wasn't sure how well this was going to work, but he was going to die trying if it meant saving his friend. Whether or not Gladio's movements were working, the mountain side was coming closer. Gladio looked down as they passed through the fog and spotted a lush forest below. He clenched his sword realizing the mountain side was sloping and that's why they were able to get closer. Gladio took a deep breath.

"Hang on!" He yelled once more before slamming his sword into the rocks, digging it in. His sword was knocked back from the forced, but he tried it once more seeing the ground coming closer. He stabbed his sword in to the rock, it went in and dragged downwards. Gladio could feel that they were slowing down, but he knew they were still going too fast. They were going to die at this rate.

He took a deep breath and pressed both feet into the rocks to get more friction. He immediately felt a fiery pain shoot up to his thigh of his right leg and a duller pain go through his left ankle. He could feel Prompto tighten his hold. Gladio looked down at the ground coming up fast. He took one last deep breath. All at once he let go of his sword, kicked off the mountain, and hugged Prompto, protecting him with his own body. Gladio felt his body slam into the ground the first time and was knocked out a second later from the impact.

Prompto woke up with blurred vision and a pounding headache. He groaned sitting up slowly, his whole body ached. He looked around seeing that he was surround by trees and the next thing he noticed was Gladio's still form laying a few feet away from him. It all hit him at once. He remember falling, Gladio telling him to hang on, slamming into the ground over and over as they rolled and then something hit his head. Or his head hit something.

"Gladio!" He called out. He tried to move, but the searing pain in his hand caught him off guard and he whimpered out. Prompto looked down to find the piece of metal still there, his hand and arm both covered in blood. He felt the injuries on his body. His other arm was scraped up; his back was tight and he felt a warm wetness there; the pain on his head was centered around the side where he felt a bump rising, and of course his right hand's injury. He shook as he forced himself to his feet and stumbled to Gladio's side where he fell to his knees. He looked over his friend's body.

Gladio's face was covered in blood, a gash visible on the side of his head; his right leg was crooked and bloody; and he had scrapes all over his arms and torso. He knew Gladio was alive because he was still breathing, but he knew his friend's injuries were very serious.

"First things first." Prompto said taking a deep breath. Without hesitating he quickly pulled the piece of metal out of his hand and cried out in pain. He gasped as his body shook and his hand pulsed, but he pushed back the tears as he pulled his glove off and took his bandana off his arm to wrap his hand up with. He struggled at first, but managed to use his teeth to help tie it off. Next was Gladio. Prompto took off his own vest and shirt, and tore a piece off of it, which he used to wrap Gladio's head wound up with. The rest of Prompto's shirt and some of his vest was use to wrap up the worse of the cuts over Gladio's body. Prompto looked at Gladio's leg and figured it was broken at the very least. Remembering what Ignis and Gladio taught him, Prompto proceeded to find some decent sized branches and place them at Gladio's leg. He straightened the swordsman's leg as best as possible and used his vest to tie the branches to Gladio's leg to make a poor splint. Prompto was no expert at this stuff so he prayed this would be good enough until they found help.

Prompto looked up through the trees, he knew it was still daylight out, but the light didn't seem to make it through that well. Just enough that the trees could thrive and the ground remained chilled. A shiver went through his body as he felt coolness hit his body and the aches in his body grew. His adrenaline was clearly gone now. Prompto heard a twig snap behind him and he quickly turned, gun in hand, but didn't see anything. He looked back down at Gladio's unconscious form.

"It's not safe here. You either have to wake or I'm going to have to drag you." Prompto said quietly. "Please wake up."

Gladio remained the same and after a few minutes, Prompto gave up on Gladio gaining consciousness. Instead he stood up with a new resolve. He turned Gladio over onto his stomach, taking note of the small gash on his back. Prompto bent down and pulled Gladio's arm over his own shoulder and lifted him up. It took him a moment to situate the bigger man onto his back, but he managed it. Sweat was already forming on Prompto's brow from the exertion and he took a minute to breath.

"You know Gladio, you're really heavy." Prompto huffed as he took a shaky step forward, and then another. Gladio's legs dragged behind, but there was nothing Prompto could do about it. Gladio was much taller than him, this was the best he could do. He just hope it wouldn't cause any more damage to the bigger man.

Prompto knew when the sun had dropped because the forest became pitch black. Not even his flashlight gave him much light, so he opted out to settling Gladio on the ground and making a small fire. Something he was grateful that Gladio forced him to learn about. He knew he probably shouldn't have made a beacon to alert predators of where they were, but he was cold and he knew Gladio would do no good if he got sick in his condition. Also it helped Prompto to see if something was moving close by or if anything jumped out he could have a better chance at aiming and hitting his mark. He stood beside Gladio's body, gun in both hands, arms tense, ears listening for any sounds being around him. He would look around the moment he heard a noise and prepare to shoot anything that came for him or his friend.

Prompto at some point had sat down to rest, but he remained alert to his surroundings. There were too many noises around them and some were moving closer. He held his gun close with his left hand listening as a particular rustling bush became quiet. It seemed that silence had taken over the area and Prompto wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He felt a shiver go up his spin and gripped the gun with his right hand. Prompto ignored the throbbing coming from his hand and kept his hands steady as he stood back up. He could feel something off. Gladio let out a soft groan and Prompto flinched from the noise. He looked at his friend, but found Gladio still knocked out.

At that moment a Coeurl jumped out of the darkness towards them. Prompto gasped as he turned and raised his weapon. He fired a shot. Prompto wasn't sure if it was his hurt hand, his fatigue or the Coeurl's speed, but he missed. He didn't have time to think about it though and focused on shooting his target. The Coeurl let out a low growl as it jumped in front of Prompto and whipped its whiskers at him. Prompto gasped feeling the whiskers hit his side and stomach with a lightning attack before flinging him backwards. He whimpered curling up into a ball as his muscles spasm. The Coeurl turned its attention to Gladio and walked closer to him instead of the gunslinger.

"Stay away from him!" Prompto yelled. He raised his gun and shot the Coeurl in the side, making it turn and hiss at him. The beast jumped towards him, but he fired more shots at its head until finally hit its mark. The Coeurl fell hard onto the ground right next to Prompto.

Prompto stood up shakily and walked around the Coeurl to get to Gladio but when he got closer he felt another shock go through his body. The Coeurl had swung one of his whiskers back and struck Prompto on the back, knocking him over. The Coeurl roared as it pounced on Prompto, but the gunslinger rolled over summoning his bioblaster. He shot once into the Coeurl's chest and it was enough to knock the beast back. Blood dripped from the Coeurl's mouth as it limped towards the trees and made its escape. Prompto took a moment to catch his breath and slid next to Gladio.

"Guess I won't be sleeping tonight." Prompto chuckled. "Don't worry, Gladdy, I won't let anything happen to you so just rest, okay."

When the morning came, Prompto felt a little relieved. At least the nocturnal monsters wouldn't be attacking, but now he had to worry about everything else. His mouth watered and his stomach growled, but the fire was out and he didn't want to be sitting here any longer. So he sucked it up and lifted Gladio onto his back once more to start his slow trek through the forest.

Prompto chuckled. "Gladio, I'm going to have some big muscles after dragging you all over the place. I'm going to have Iggy cook me everything we got to maintain these puppies." His comment went unanswered, but he kept his small smile up.

As the day went on, Prompto kept up his one-sided conversation more for his own sake to distract himself from the hunger pains and also the worry about his friend's health. Whenever he stopped to rest, he would check his phone for service, but there was none so he would pick up Gladio and keep moving. By the end of the day, he was struggling to keep his feet moving forward. Gladio's weight combined with his own fatigue and injuries were catching up to him. Prompto knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer, but he had to. Gladio needed him to. The forest became dark again and Prompto made a small fire.

"I'm sorry." Prompto whispered, sitting next to Gladio. He was hugging his knees, his gun was gripped loosely in his left hand. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. You were raised to be the prince's shield, but you see yourself as a shield for all your friends. Especially me. I know I'm not strong, I know I can't benefit the group, but you guys still treat me as an equal. You and Ignis are always teaching Noct and me even if we don't always want to learn. What I'm trying to say is, thank you for looking out for me. And … for protecting me." Prompto felt his cheeks heat up a bit but looked at Gladio with resolve. "I promise, I'm going to protect you this time, and I'll get you back to the others so they can heal you. Even if it's the last thing I do."

The morning after Prompto knew something was wrong, not with Gladio, but with himself. He was burning up, his body ached all over, and he felt exhausted. Going another night without sleep and still not having ate was not helping any, but he stood up. He was determined to get out of the forest today. He had to.

Morning turned to noon and soon the sun was making its way towards the horizon once more. Prompto hadn't taken much notice of the time that has passed. He was focusing on his feet and making sure not to stumble. It was going rather well until his vision blurred a bit and he couldn't make out where a rock was really at. He found it with his foot though and fell forward with Gladio's full weight pressing down on him. Prompto hummed into the dirt and warm grass as the wind blew. His eye began to focus on three a sabretusks in the distance climbing over a small boulder.

Prompto's eyes widen as he sat up a little, at least as well as he could with the mass of muscles on his back, and looked around the open valley. The sun's warmth was beating down on them, not that Prompto really noticed since he was burning up long before that. He pulled himself out from under Gladio and looked back to see the forest was a ways back. How he missed leaving it was beyond him, but he was relieved to be out of there. Now he had to focus on the next problem. The sun would set soon and an open area like this was bound to be covered in daemons. As he was hoisting Gladio back up, he spotted smoke in the distance.

Prompto smiled. "A Haven. Hang in there Gladio."

Although the he spotted the smoke and tried to get to it, Prompto knew there was no way he could make it before it became dark. As he crossed the valley he could tell the haven was still miles away from where they were at. He had to get Gladio somewhere safe before darkness took over. He was considering hiding between some boulders grouped together, but upon further inspection found that they were too tightly packed and Prompto could barely fit let alone Gladio's large form.

"We're just going to have to risk getting to the Haven." Prompto said with a heavy breath. "Don't worry though, I said I'll protect you so I'm going to. You just stay alive, okay."

Prompto knew his words fell on deaf ears, but he was reassuring himself as well. He had to get to the Haven.

Being determined to get to a place it seems wasn't enough for them to make it. Prompto stared at the smoke in the distance as the sun fell below the horizon covering the area in darkness. Prompto couldn't even be sure he was going in the right way of the Haven, but he kept picking his feet up. He bit his lip wanting to talk, but he could easily attract unwanted guests. He may not have been able to easily spot daemons, but he definitely heard them. He kept his flashlight off and walked carefully using his ears to move around the spawning creatures. He had a close called with a Bomb, but managed to maneuver around it before he was spotted.

Prompto found himself staring at the ground and stumbling as he walked and he quickly brought his head up. He wasn't sure how long he was out of it, but it was long enough for him to be scared. He was lucky they weren't attacked while his mind had wondered off. He didn't even know if he was going in the right direction anymore, hell he wasn't sure what direction he was walking in at all. He shook his head to refocus when he spotted something nearby. He couldn't really make out what it was, but he could tell it was something that could be used for shelter. It could have been a boulder, or,

"A house? Out here?" Prompto mumbled. Before he could even consider about walking to it, his feet were already moving in the direction. There was an Iron Giant nearby, he could hear and feel the heavy footsteps. Prompto walked a few feet before inspecting the area and moved a little more before looking around again. There was no way they could survive being confronted by a daemon, especially an Iron Giant.

It seemed like forever before Prompto had made it close enough to find that it was a small decrepit shack, but it was still shelter and the daemons didn't seem too interested in it. However the Iron Giant had finally shown itself. It was standing next to the shack, but didn't seem to have noticed them so Prompto waited patiently behind a nearby rock. He wanted to put Gladio down to rest while he could, but he doubted he would have the strength to lift his friend back up again. Prompto was already pushing his limits.

The Iron Giant turned in their direction and started walking towards them. Prompto bit his lip to keep quiet and pressed up against the rock to try and hide. He steadied his breathing as he felt the earth shake with every step the Iron Giant took. His heart was beating like crazy as if it was going to pop out of his chest at any moment. The Iron Giant stepped right next to them and Prompto held his breath while closing his eyes ready to be struck down, but the Iron Giant took another step. It stepped again and again walking away from them, but Prompto stayed frozen against the rock until he could no longer feel the earth moving any more.

With the last of his strength, Prompto made it to the shack and opened the door. He dragged Gladio inside and dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Prompto's breathing was heavy, his arms and legs felt like jelly, but he moved to close the door. There was a small lock on the knob that he twisted, not that it would do any good against the enemies outside. He risked turning on his flash light seeing that there was only one window in the whole shack and he was quick to place a plank of wood in front of it. Next, he began going through the bare shack's cabinets. He found a dusty blanket which he used to cover Gladio up before going through the other cabinets. He managed to find what was left of a rat, a wooden box full of vials with weird names on them, some fishing lures, a large rusted knife, and a cobweb.

Prompto opened the next set cabinet doors and found a dusty vial turned on its side. He grabbed it wipe the dust off to show that it was full of a green liquid. Prompto smiled knowing exactly what it was. He quickly looked in the last of the cabinets around it, but found them all empty. He sighed, but smiled as he made his way over to Gladio and sat next to him.

"Hey, Gladdy." Prompto said softly. "I found a potion. There's…there's only one so, yeah." He whispered grabbing Gladio's hand and placing the potion in his palm. "Please, let this work."

Prompto laid Gladio's hand over his chest with the potion and squeezed his hand shut, breaking the potion. Prompto pulled his hands back as the green liquid dissolved into Gladio's body. The window shook as did the ground. Prompto summoned his gun and turned his flashlight off. The Iron Giant was walking back to shack.

The first thing that came to Gladio's mind was the pounding headache that woke him up. He groaned as he rubbed his head, flinching when a pain shot through his brain. He opened his eyes taking in the sight of a ceiling and dust falling through a few lines of light. He set up, taking note of his stiff muscles and throbbing pain in his leg. He pulled his shoulders back to pop his spine, but it made him feel the tightness of the injuries on his back and arms. The next thing Gladio noticed was Prompto sitting on his knees, hunched in front of the door and shirtless. He noticed Prompto was covered in dirt, bruises, and had scraps covered in dried up blood.

"Prompto?" He called, but didn't get a response. "Prompto."

When he didn't get a response again, Gladio tried to stand up, but found his leg in a terrible makeshift splint and an intense pain shot up it again. He let out a string of curse words, which seemed to bring Prompto out of his dazed state. The gunslinger turned around and smiled.

"Gladdy." The said softly, catching Gladio's attention. Prompto slowly crawled over, swaying as he did, which didn't go unnoticed by Gladio.

"Prompto, what happened? Are you okay?"

"We fell off the mountain and you saved me, but you go hurt." Prompto said coming to a stop. The movement seemed to have taken the last of his energy and he fell forward into Gladio's lap.

"Prompto!" Gladio shouted, picking the gunslinger up in his arms. He saw Prompto's red face covered in sweat and was breathing hard.

"You wouldn't wake up. For three days." Prompto whimpered, raising his hand to Gladio's cheek. "I had to protect you. Get you to safety. There was only one…potion. I'm so happy it brought you back."

"Prompto." Gladio said sternly, but now wasn't the time for a lecture. "Do you know where we are? What about Noct and Ignis?"

"Haven somewhere. Iggy…has to cook something good." Prompto mumbled his eyes falling shut and his hand dropped to his stomach.

"Prompto!" Gladio shouted, but Prompto was already out cold. He laid the gunslinger on the floor and pulled out his phone but found no signal and very little battery left. Gladio looked over himself first figuring out which injuries he had and what the potion healed. It seemed that his head was the only thing that was somewhat healed.

He looked over Prompto next realizing that his bandages were his friend's clothing. He would have to make sure to replace them for Prompto later. The only thing that Prompto kept was his bandana which was wrapped around his hand and the bandage around his arms from the snake attack. Gladio's eyes widen and he gasped remembering bridge. Prompto's hand had been impaled. He carefully unwrapped the bandana and quickly picked up on the smell. The injury was yellowish and red with white puss leaking from it.

"Damn it, Prompto." Gladio snapped, but gently placed the hand down and carefully moved his friend to the floor. He looked around spotting a pile of things nearby and scooted over to it. It was the pile of things that Prompto had found the night before. Gladio opened the wooden box and inspected the contents.

"Talk about old fashion." Gladio said. "But it'll work for now."

He brought the box with him back to Prompto's side and grabbed the edge of the blanket that he had been covered with. He grabbed one of the bottles and poured the liquid on the blanket before grabbed Prompt's injured hand.

Gladio wasn't gentle when cleaning the wound however. He rubbed it with the medicine on both sides and while he did, Prompto began to squirm and whimper in his sleep. When Gladio started wiping the top of Prompto's hand, the gunslinger cried out, fully awake now.

"Hold still, I'm almost done." Gladio ordered. Prompto whimpered, but did what he was told. Gladio cleaned the wound as quickly, but as thoroughly as possible before sitting the hand back down onto Prompto's stomach. "We have to let it air out. Don't mess with it or let it touch anything."

Prompto sniffled and shook his head. Gladio rubbed his head softly feeling the dampness in his hair. "You have a fever. There's not much we can do about it right now, so I need you to rest."

"Gladdy?" Prompto whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Are we…are we going to see Noct and Iggy again?"

"Of course we are." Gladio softly. "We're going to get out of here and have Ignis cook something hearty for us."

"How? I can't carry you anymore." Prompto said. "And your leg…"

"Don't think about that, just rest for now. Leave everything else to me." Gladio ordered and Prompto nodded closing his eyes.

After Prompto fell into a restless sleepy, Gladio covered him with the blanket and started to move around the room as best as he could trying to find a signal on his phone, but to no avail and soon his phone died. He checked Prompto's phone, but it too was out of juice. He knocked the plank off the window to glance out, but he couldn't see out well enough with his current position so he slid to the door. He opened it up and slid out to look around the valley they were in. They were still close to the mountains, hell it looked like they were still on part of one of them. If they were, that means rescue may not happen at all. Gladio was starting to doubt that they'll make it through this situation.

He moved to slide back in when something caught his eyes. He looked close at the figure in the distance. It was definitely a person. Gladio summoned his sword and using the sun, he shined a glare in the figure's direction hoping the person would see. After a few minutes, Gladio wasn't quite sure if it was a person anymore, but just his imagination. When he was about to give up there was a flicker back. The person had saw him. Relief welled in his chest as he watched the figure walk closer and closer.

Gladio was taken back when he saw that it was a man who had a very familiar face. "Dave? What are you doing out here?"

Dave smirked as he knelt down. "Looking for you. The prince and Ignis came back into town yesterday asking if you guys had made it back. The poor prince was torn up and wanting to search for you guys, but Ignis kept telling him off and what not. Anyways long story short, you fellas went missing and when hunters go missing, well it's only appropriate that other hunters attempt a search and rescue."

"I'm grateful, but I have a broken leg and Prompto is out for the count. I don't think you'll be able to get us both back."

"Nonsense." Dave said pulling out a hand held radio. "Just have to let the others know where we are. They shouldn't take too long. And knowing your prince, he'll be the first one here."

True to his word, Dave called for backup and couple of nearby hunters came to assist them. Luckily they had chocobos to ride on, and even though Gladio was injured, he took responsibility of holding on to Prompto. It was wasn't that difficult since they wrapped the gunslinger up in the blanket first. Gladio held Prompto tightly against his chest as they rode the chocobo.

Noctis and Ignis may not have been the first ones there, but they didn't waste any time meeting up with the group on the way down the mountain. When Noctis and Ignis joined up with them, they both started asking questions about how they survived and what had happened, but Gladio told them truth. He didn't know. They would have to get the story from Prompto once he was better. What he did know, was that Prompto saved him and risked his life to do so.

It was two days later before Prompto woke up. His injuries had long been healed, but it took time for his fever to break. When it did, the first person he saw was Gladio sitting in a chair by his bed reading a book with a purple cover. He groaned rubbing his face catching Gladio's attention.

"Hey sleeping beauty." Gladio said with a smirk.

"Morning." Prompto mumbled as he sat up, rubbing his eye. Gladio sat his book down on the bed and smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like crap. Is Ignis cooking breakfast, I'm hungry."

"No, but I'll ask him to whip you something although it'll be dinner instead of breakfast"

Prompto whined. "I missed breakfast!"

"Yep." Gladio laughed. "Glad to see you being lively again. I tell you what, seeing you motionless on a bed these past two days had me worried out of my mind."

"You scared me too." Prompto said quietly. "When you wouldn't wake up. I thought you were going to… never mind." Prompto shook his head and smiled at Gladio. "I'm glad to see you're okay too."

"Yeah well I had a great comrade to protect me when I decided to take a few zzz's"

"It's not often that the King's Shield is the one that needs protecting." Noctis's voice caught their attention. Prompto smiled and waved as the prince walked into the room.

"Trust me it's not something that'll happen again." Gladio said sternly.

"Of course it won't." Noctis said waving his hand. Prompto started moving around his bed and made the motion to get up, but both Gladio and Noctis stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to get my camera. That was would have been a good picture of you two." Prompto said moving to get off again, but this time his own body stopped him. His head began to spin and he rubbed it as he stopped moving.

"You haven't eaten in days." Gladio said placing a hand on Prompto's own. "You don't need to be moving around until we get some food in you."

"Oh." Prompto said, suddenly feeling tired. He let Gladio push him back down and cover him up.

"Don't worry, I sent Ignis a text that you were awake." Noctis said. "He said he was making a nutritional meal for you, but not to worry, he'll make it delicious."

"I don't doubt that." Prompto laughed. "Hey, Noct, could you give us a minute?"

Noctis looked between his two friends and nodded before heading out the door, closing it behind him. Prompto reached out and grabbed Gladio's hand. "I'm so happy you're okay."

Gladio squeezed his hand back. "Same, I'm glad you recovered. You pushed yourself pretty hard just for me."

"I wouldn't have been able to face myself if I had let anything happened to you. After all, the kind needs his shield." Prompto laughed.

Gladio smirked. "Yeah," Prompto blushed when Gladio kissed the top of his hand. "and I need my resilient gunslinger to hold me up."

Gladio moved his lips up to kiss Prompto's wrist before moving up to his lips. Prompto shivered as his body heated up from Gladio's gentle kiss. He gripped Gladio's arms as he closed his eyes and kissed back.

There was a quick knock on the door before it opened up. "I've come up with a new recipe. I hope you'll find it en—"

Ignis and Noctis both stopped short in the doorway seeing the two making out. Gladio raised his hand showing his index finger, telling Ignis to wait a moment. A few more seconds passed before Gladio pulled off and sat back in his chair with his book. Prompto liked his lips while his cheeks remained pink. He looked over at Ignis and his eyes lit up as he sat up

"Food! Alright!"

Ignis sighed before bringing the plate over and watching the gunslinger dig in to his meal. Noctis nudged at Gladio who swatted him away. Ignis patted the Prince's shoulder. "They'll tell us eventually. Let just be happy they're alive and well."

"And apparently boning" Noctis said with a laugh.

Prompto rolled his eyes, but Gladio smirked and without missing a beat said, "Not yet, Prompto hasn't fully recovered."

Prompto choked on his food causing Ignis to go into panic mode and Gladio laughed at as Noctis stood there with his jaw dropped.


End file.
